The Saxons had not won on the Bombers' home turf since the 1982
season and with the win AU snapped a two-game losing streak in
conference play, improving to 6-3 on the season, 3-3 in Empire
play. With the loss, Ithaca falls to 4-5 (2-5 Empire 8).

Senior linebacker Nick Clark had seven tackles (including a
sack) for the Saxons, giving him 363 for his career and breaking
the school record of 359 formerly held by linebacker Wil Greene
(1993-96). Clark also had an interception that thwarted a
third-quarter Bomber drive and rushed for a touchdown.

Alfred led 21-12 when Phil Neumann tossed an eight-yard TD pass
to Joe Ingrao to make it 21-19 Saxons with just under four minutes
left in regulation. Junior tailback Tyler DeRosa returned the
ensuing kickoff 32 yards to midfield. Three runs by sophomore
tailback Austin Dwyer produced a first down and freshman wideout
Christian Smith rushed for five yards on third-and-four to give AU
another first down. With Ithaca out of timeouts, the Saxons were
able to run out the clock and secure the victory.

Dwyer finished with 129 yards on 28 carries and DeRosa had 30
yards on nine carries.

The game was close throughout. AU took a 14-6 lead after Clark
bulled into the endzone from three yards out to cap a 14-play,
78-yard drive with just under two minutes left in the third. The
Saxon drive came after Clark's interception at the Alfred 22-yard
line with 3:52 left in the third. Ithaca had a chance to tie the
game at 14 when Dan Ruffrage returned a punt 43 yards for a
touchdown with 12:08 left in the fourth, but the two-point
conversion attempt failed at Alfred led 14-12. On its ensuing
possession, AU drove 68 yards in eight plays before senior
quarterback T.J. Kilcarr hit junior tight end Adam Schutz with
a 15-yard TD pass to put Alfred up 21-12. Dwyer ran for 34 yards on
the drive.

Kilcarr finished 17-of-30 for 211 yards and two touchdowns with
one interception. Sophomore wide receiver Justin OIiver had three
catches for 70 yards and a score and Schutz had five catches for 53
yards and a score. Sophomore wideout Josh Phillips caught four
passes for 42 yards.

AU led 7-6 at intermission, despite a late Bomber drive inside
the Saxon 5-yard line late in the second in which Ithaca settled
for the second of Andrew Rogowski's two first-half field goals. The
first, from 28 yards 2:49 into the contest, staked Ithaca to a 3-0
lead. AU took a 7-3 lead 2:52 in to the second when Kilcarr capped
an eight-play 70-yard drive with a 40-yard scoring pass to
Oliver.

Ithaca had a chance to take a halftime lead when Jarrett Naiden
broke free for an 86-yard run to the Alfred 2-yard line with under
two minutes left in the half. But after a one-yard Naiden rush on
first down, the Bombers sent Rogowski out to kick a 19-yard field
goal with just over a minute left before intermission.

AU dominated the stat sheet, producing 394 yards of offense (211
passing, 183 rushing) to 239 for Ithaca (112 passing, 127 rushing).
The Saxons had 22 first downs to nine for Ithaca and converted nine
of 18 third downs to only four of 15 for the Bombers.

AU senior end Marcellus Jones (sack) and junior tackle Mike
Raplee each had five tackles and junior end Chris Steeves had a
sack.

Neumann was 10-of-31 for 112 yards, a touchdown and an
interception. Ruffrage caught three passes for 55 yards and Ingrao
had four receptions for 22 yards and a touchdown. Naiden had 18
rushes for 141 yards.

Eric Toporoff and Will Carter each had 12 tackles to pace the
Ithaca defense. Joe Gilfedder had nine stops and Mike Conti had an
interception for the Bombers.

Alfred is in action next on Saturday, Nov. 12, at 1 p.m. at home
against Empire 8 foe Utica, in the regular season finale for both
teams.